Chute



June 13, 1944. L w SCHAAFF CHUTE Filed Nov. 30, 1942 awuwto'o A lea/Is 1 1 -5/2aq Patented June 13, 1944 Louis W. Schaaff, Jackson I-Noor, Inc., Long Island or to Waldes Koh- Heights, N. Y., assign- City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application NovemberBO, 1942, Serial No. 467,414

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in chutes of the type employed to guide a cartridge belt from an ammunition container to a weapon, for example, a machine gun.

The invention contemplates and has for a principal object the provision of an improved chute for cartridge belts which has the required flexibility to adjust itself both to differences in height and in relative lateral position between the outlet of the cartridge belt container and the feed or grip mechanism of the gun, without impairment of its faculty to guide a cartridge belt being fed therealong both smoothly and without jamming. More specifically, the invention aims to provide an effective chute for cartridge belts having the required flexibility as aforesaid, which is of rugged and durable construction and. which can be manufactured at minimum cost from readily available sheet materials, particularly nonmetallic materials such as vulcanized fiber.

According to my invention, a chute for cartridge belts in accordance with the foregoing is built up from a plurality of individual sheetform elements of generally U or channel shape which are interconnected by flexible strips, for example, tapes, cords, wire, or the like. The elements are arranged on a corresponding edge and are so shaped that when interconnected in side-by-side relationship they form a channel which is substantially uninterrupted and which, due to the more or less loose connection between the elements, is flexible both horizontall and vertically as well as twistable in lengthwise direction. Accordingly, a so formed chute can adjust itself along its length to differences in height and in lateral position between the cartridge belt container and the inlet of the machine gun. By forming the elements from sheet material of appreciable thickness, the relatively upper edges of the elements provide adequate bearing surface for the cartridges and links of the belt moving along the so formed chute.

Furthermore, as the single elements from which the chute is built have flat or sheet form,

they can be readily stamped out in a. single onestroke stamping operation from sheet material and preferably from non-metallic sheet material such as vulcanized fiber. To add to the flexibility of the chute without adding substantially to the amount of such material required in the production thereof, spacers adapted and shaped for insertion between the adjacent elements of the interconnected series thereof may be employed, the spacers being preferably arranged to is illustrated an embodiment space the adjacent elements at both ends thereof. These spacers, which are, for example, of right-angled shape, can also be readily stamped out of non-metallic sheet material in a simple stamping operation.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out in connection with the following analysis of this invention wherein of the invention in detail.

I Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the chute in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1, illustrating the preferred shape'of an individual element from a plurality of which the chute is built up, and the relative dimensioning of the elements and the cartridges of a belt thereof;

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, elevations of leftand right-hand spacers for insertion between the ends of the adjacent elements forming the chute; and

Fig. 5 is an end View of a portion of the belt illustrating its flexibility out .of a horizontal plane.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, the chute according to the invention is built up from a plurality of individual elements generally indicated at I 0, Fig. 2, and which can be stamped out in a single-stroke stamping operation from sheet material and preferably from a non-metallic'sheet material such as vulcanized fiber. As shown, each element is formed with a horizontal leg H, uprights l2 and I3 extending upwardly from the ends thereof,

' and inwardly directed retaining flanges l4, I5

extending inwardly from the upper ends of the uprights. It will be observed from Fig. 2 that. each element is substantially U-shaped to provide an upwardly opening channelsection having width which is somewhat greater than the length of the cartridges l6 arranged in belt form by means of interconnecting links l1, and depth which is somewhat greater than the diameter of the cartridges.

Each element leg H adjacent its end is slotted as at 2|], 2| and the uprights l2, l3 may be correspondingly slotted as at 22, 23, t provide slots or apertures through which suitable securing means may be threaded.

A plurality of elements as described are assembled into chute-forming relation by disposing the elements on edge and in side-by-side relationship and thereupon threading through the slots 20, 2|, and also through the upright slots 22, 23, if such are provided, corresponding flex- 

